Professor James Moriarty
Professor James Moriarty is one of the main characters in The Mary Morstan Mysteries series (as well as a character in the stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) and the central villain of the show. He is portrayed by Adrian Charlton. He is criminal mastermind whom Holmes describes as the "Napoleon of crime". It is often said that every single crime in the city of London can, somehow, someway, be attributed to him. That is, if it were not for the fact he never leaves anything to actually link him to it. According to Sherlock Holmes, he is a man of good birth and excellent education, endowed by nature with a phenomenal mathematical faculty. But a criminal strain ran in his blood, which, instead of being modified, was increased and rendered infinitely more dangerous by his extraordinary mental powers. The Moriarty Club He is the leader of The Moriarty Club, a self-named criminal enterprise comprising of himself, his niece Gwendolyn Chambers, Colonel Sebastian Moran, Culverton Smith, and Charles Augustus Milverton. Family In the Mary Morstan Mysteries, Moriarty has one sister and two brothers - Station Master James Moriarty, and Colonel James Moriarty; both of whom appeared in the episode "Rings of Change". The triplets all having the same name is a joke and nod to the inconstancy of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's writing of the original tales, in which it is mentioned he has a brother called James, who is colonel, later referred to again, but this time with his occupation being that of Station Master in West England. In a rare show of empathy, Moriarty employed his sisters niece, Gwendolyn Chambers, as his personal assistant when the family came into financial constraint. However, the empathy ended with the job offer itself - Gwendolyn is mostly used for menial labor and abetting his most ludicrous schemes. Moriarty had one further niece by way of law, Charlotte Chambers, the half-sister of Gwendolyn. But once his plan to destroy parliament fails in the episode "Hell Hath No Fury", he blamed Charlotte and ordered Gwendolyn to kill her at gunpoint. Birthdays Moriarty has an obscure childlike obsession with Birthdays - of which he has several. It all started when he came across a birth certificate left behind by a man who "just happened" to fall down a cellar. Moriarty is under the impression that once you own someone's birth certificate, their day of celebration is as good as yours. It is thought his obsession stems from not being allowed to celebrate them during his childhood due to overly strict parents who thought it would interfere with his Mathematics studies. Appearances Moriarty appears in all the episodes of the first and second series of The Mary Morstan Mysteries. His voice can also be heard when Rebecca and Madeline Chambers read his diary in 2013 in the No Place Like Holmes episodes "Dawn of The Red" and "Once Upon a Time". Quotes * "Well I hope your happy Mr. Holmes....you've just ruined my Birthday!!" * "The post boy? I had to send him away, stole a stamp, a 1st class one at that" * "The Dogsbody? He is chunks...in the Dogsbody" * "The Window Cleaner? He said he was too shattered for work, but I know he is lying, I can see right through him" * Rule Number One of Moriarty Club...Never get your fingers dirty"